Marydel Woman and Three Others Indicted on Charges Related to a Scheme to Embezzle More Than $1 Million from Her Employer

Marydel Woman and Three Others Indicted on Charges Related to a Scheme to Embezzle More Than $1 Million from Her Employer

GREENBELT, MD—A federal grand jury has indicted four individuals in connection with a scheme to steal over $1 million from a consulting company. The following individuals face conspiracy and wire fraud charges:

Janice McCumbie, age 45, of Marydel, Maryland;

Leonard Smedley II, age 35, of Capitol Heights, Maryland;

Amber Gayleard, age 29, of Schuylkillhaven, Pennsylvania; and

Brian Hooper, age 42, of Woodbridge, Virginia.

The indictment was returned on August 6, 2014, and unsealed today upon the arrest of the defendants.

The indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

According to the indictment, McCumbie worked for a global consulting business that served clients in various industries and had offices in Maryland and elsewhere. Clients paid large retainers to secure consulting services. The consulting company would issue refund checks to the clients in certain circumstances, including when a client’s retainer exceeded the amount of work that the consulting company actually performed or when the client made duplicate payments to the consulting company. The consulting company assigned the Accounts Receivable group (the AR group) and the Accounts Payable group (the AP group) to handle the refund process. McCumbie worked for the AR group and her duties included coordinating client refunds.

The 11-count indictment alleges that between August 2009 and November 2013, McCumbie created and submitted false documentation to the consulting company’s AP group, falsely representing that refund checks should be issued to Gayleard and Smedley. McCumbie allegedly caused the consulting company to issue at least 39 fraudulent refund checks, totaling, $848,024.48, to Smedley, who was not a client of the consulting company. The indictment alleges that Smedley cashed the fraudulent checks and shared the proceeds with McCumbie and Hooper, who was a former employee of the consulting company. The indictment alleges that McCumbie caused 17 fraudulent refund checks, totaling $217,695.57, to be issued to her niece, Gayleard, who cashed the checks and shared the proceeds with McCumbie.

The indictment seeks forfeiture of at least $1,065,720, believed to be the proceeds of the wire fraud conspiracy.

The defendants face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the conspiracy and for each of 10 counts of wire fraud. Janice McCumby, Leonard Smedley II, and Brian Hooper have all had an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt. Amber Gayleard had her initial appearance in U.S. District Court in the Middle District of Pennsylvania. All four defendants were released under the supervision of U.S. Pretrial Services.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the FBI for its work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Leah J. Bressack and David I. Salem, who are prosecuting the case.